Alcázar Genil

It was first built in 1218 or 1219 by Sayyid Ishaq ibn Yusuf, a member of the Almohad dynasty.{{Cite book |last=Bush |first=Olga |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2013 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Granada art and architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}} The palace, built along the south shore of the Genil River, was located outside the city walls.{{Cite book |last=García Porras |first=Alberto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=41, 44 |language=en |chapter=From Stones to Clay Bowls. Visual Arts of the City’s Islamic Past}} It served as an almunia (from Arabic al-munya, meaning "farm"{{Cite book |last=Stalls |first=Clay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GVjEAAAQBAJ&dq=almunia+arabic&pg=PA68 |title=Possessing the Land: Aragon's Expansion into Islam's Ebro Frontier under Alfonso the Battler (1104-1134) |publisher=Brill |year=2022 |isbn=978-90-04-47410-9 |pages=68 |language=en}}), a country villa that was used both as a private retreat for its elite owners as well as a farming estate with agricultural functions.{{Cite book |last=Capilla |first=Susana Calvo |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MureDwAAQBAJ&dq=almunia+nasrid&pg=PT496 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Muslim Iberia |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-317-23354-1 |editor-last=Fierro |editor-first=Maribel |pages=475 |language=en |chapter=Art and Architecture}} A small ribat (religious retreat for Sufis) was also built nearby at the same time, consisting of a simple square hall covered by a sixteen-sided cupola with groin-vault squinches, with a sloped roof on the outside. This was later converted into a Christian hermitage and is now known as the Ermita de San Sebastián ("Hermitage of Saint Sebastian") or the rábita ("ribat").{{Cite book |last=Orihuela |first=Antonio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=421–424 |language=en |chapter=From the Private to the Public Space: Domestic and Urban Architecture of Islamic Granada}}

In 1237, Muhammad I of the Nasrid dynasty took over Granada and the palace came under the new dynasty's possession. Muhammad I's grandson, Muhammad III (r. 1302–1309) temporarily lived here after he was dethroned, before he moved to Almuñécar.{{cite encyclopedia|ref={{SfnRef|Real Academia de la Historia}}|last=Vidal Castro|first=Francisco |title=Muhammad III|encyclopedia=Diccionario Biográfico electrónico|editor=Real Academia de la Historia|url=http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/6552/muhammad-iii}} The decoration of the palace dates from the reign of Isma'il I (r. 1314–1325){{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |volume=2 |location= |pages=121 |chapter=Granada |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}} or of Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354). It's possible that the current structure was also rebuilt at that time.

In 1892 the Spanish architect Rafael Contreras expanded the building by adding two wings on either side and a small porch on the front. The building was restored again in the 1980s and in 1994 by Pedro Salmerón Escobar.

Originally, the palace stood next to a large pool measuring {{Convert|121 by 28|m|ft}}, which formed part of an extensive water supply network used for agricultural irrigation.{{Cite book |last=Rėklaitytė |first=Ieva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=461 |language=en |chapter=The Rumor of Water: A Key Element of Moorish Granada}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |volume=2 |location= |pages=90 |chapter=Gardens |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}} The pool may have also been used for aquatic games and displays. The original layout of the building, consisting of a central square chamber in the form of a qubba, with rectangular side chambers opening onto it, is an early example of a type of interior space which became common in Nasrid architecture. Only the central chamber of the palace was entered from the outside, such that the building was a relatively introverted space rather than one that was open to the gardens around it. Inside, the palace is decorated with carved stucco on its walls. The stucco decoration culminates in a cornice of muqarnas, above which is a ceiling consisting of a square wooden cupola painted with interlacing geometric motifs.{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |volume=1 |location= |pages=156 |chapter=Architecture |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |volume=3 |location= |pages=428 |chapter=Woodwork |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}

File:Alcazar Genil DSCF9915.jpg|Interior of the central chamber, with floor fountain and arched entry to side chamber

File:Alcazar Genil DSCF9945.jpg|Carved stucco decoration on the walls of the central chamber

File:Alcazar Genil DSCF9926.jpg|View towards the wooden cupola ceiling of the central chamber

• Cuarto Réal de Santo Domingo

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{{Granada monuments}}

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Category:Buildings and structures in Granada

Category:Palaces in Andalusia

Category:Nasrid architecture

Category:Moorish architecture in Spain

Category:Almohad architecture